TODAY’S OPPOSITION
EXETER CITY
The club was formed in 1901 as St Sidwell’s United and moved into St James Park two years later. In May 1904 they became Exeter City, and by the start of 1908-09 had become professional and were elected into the Southern League. The Grecians were invited to be founder members of the Third Division in 1920 before it was regionalised the year after.
The early 1930s was one of the most successful periods in the club’s history as they reached the FA Cup Sixth Round in 1931, losing in a replay to Sunderland. Two years later they finished second in the Third Division South which is their highest league position to date, however, only one club was promoted from the division at the time. In 1958 Exeter found themselves in the Fourth Division, but won promotion for the first time in 1963-64 for a two season stay in the Third Division. Bobby Saxton led them to promotion again in 1977, and this time they stayed in the division for seven years before relegation. Another FA Cup run to the Sixth Round came in 1981, losing to eventual winners Spurs. While the 1990s started positively winning the Fourth Division, the club were struggling financially and in 1994 administrators were appointed. Exeter came out of administration in August 1996, however, the new millennium brought little joy and in 2002-03 Exeter were relegated to The Conference. Exeter City Supporters’ Trust took over the running of the club and become majority shareholders and finances
were stabilised. They were helped massively in 2004-05 by an FA Cup run to the Third Round against Manchester United. A 0-0 draw at Old Trafford and a replay at St James Park wiped out a significant amount of debt. Paul Tisdale became manager in 2006 and Exeter reached the play-off final in his first season but lost to Morecambe. However the next season they beat Cambridge United in the final to return to The Football League after five seasons in The Conference. Exeter went straight up into League One in 2008-09, but were relegated in 2012. A poor start in 2016-17 had Exeter bottom in November, but they qualified for the play-offs before losing in the final to Blackpool. They appeared at Wembley again in 2017-18, this time losing to Coventry City before Tisdale left the club and Matt Taylor took the reins and led the side to a ninth place finish, just a point outside the play-offs. Last season Exeter had a strong start, unbeaten until the end of September, but had to settle for fifth on points per game. After beating Colchester United in the play-off semi-finals to reach another final, they lost to Northampton at Wembley. So, after three play-off final defeats in four seasons, Exeter will be more determined than ever to win promotion this season and things are not going too badly, with Exeter well in the mix as well as currently being the divisions top scorers.
FORMED 1901
NICKNAME The Grecians
ST. JAMES PARK Capacity 8,541
RECORD SCORER Tony Kellow 129 (1976-88)
RECORD APPEARANCES Arnold Mitchell 495 (1952-66)
RECORD TRANSFER FEE PAID £65k Tony Kellow To Blackpool 1980 RECORD TRANSFER FEE RECEIVED £500K Martin Phillips From Manchester City 1995
POSITION
10
TH
POINTS
32
23
